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| Sesil Karatantcheva/Getty Images |
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Final Week and the Title Up For Grabs
May 31, 2005 - One American, a slew of Russians, a red-hot Belgian and a couple of upstarts will do battle as the final week of the French Open gets underway on the slow clay courts of Paris. Week One offered up the kind of unpredictable losses which Roland Garros is noted for. Venus Williams was bounced in the second round to the up-and-coming 15-year-old Bulgarian Sesil Karatantcheva. And last year's winner, Russian Anastasia Myskina, made a historic exit by losing in the opening round to unheralded Maria Sanchez Lorenzo.
But top seed Lindsay Davenport, no fan of the Parisien clay, dug deep all week winning four exhausting three-set matches to will herself into the quarters. Davenport, who has never advanced beyond the semis at Roland Garros, is the only American--male or female--left in the competition. Her next opponent is Mary Pierce, the one remaining Frenchwoman after Amelie Mauresmo's third round defeat to Ana Ivanovic.
No. 2 seed Maria Sharapova seemed headed to the quarter-finals Sunday when rain halted her match against Spain's Nuria Llagostera Vives. Should Sharapova win she will face a matchup against the winner of Belgian's Justine Henin-Hardenne and Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. Although the lowly No. 10 seed, HH is still the odds-on favorite to win Roland Garros. With impressive victories in Charleston, Warsaw and Berlin, the former world No. 1 now boasts a stunning 20-0 record on clay this season.
The stars of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour will debut at the world class Rexall Centre in Toronto as part of the Rogers Cup August 13?21st. To purchase tickets please call 1-877-2-TENNIS ext. 4333 or visit on-line at www.tenniscanada.com
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